Light, Illumination & Electricity is the launching project of the artists-in-residence program of santralistanbul, a comprehensive, participatory and interdisciplinary international platform for
culture, education and arts, led by Istanbul Bilgi University.

Involving the transformation of the city’s first power station –Silahtaraga Power Plant- into a cultural and educational center, santralistanbul aims to be a new source of energy for production and distribution of art and knowledge through a program of collaborative and interdisciplinary projects and activities. ‘Light, Illumination & Electricity ’, supported by Anna Lindh Foundation and organized in collaboration with The Townhouse Gallery of Contemporary Art (Cairo), ZINC – ECM de la Friche Belle de Mai (Marseille), NOMAD (Istanbul) and SCCA (Ljubljana), is the first platform for such collaborative work and will bring artists together from Beirut, Istanbul, Paris, Ljubljana, Cairo, and Leipzig to work together in Istanbul during the entire duration of the project. In the mean time, The Townhouse Gallery of Contemporary Art hosts an artist from Turkey in Cairo. The project's foundation is based on the vague but inspiring substances of electricity and light. Therefore, the energy museum and this specific site of santralistanbul provide multilayered inputs for an accumulation of ideas and praxis. Accordingly, the residence project involves a series of talks and workshops along with the open studio exhibition.

10.29.2007

the residency starts

Artists started to arrive to Istanbul starting from 1st of September 2007. On 4th of September, there is a santralistanbul tour with the resident artists and then there is an orientation meeting for them. santralistanbul sets weekly meetings with Basak Senova for the residency artists for the coming 3 months.

workshops

venues

residency studios, santralistanbul

energy museum, santralistanbul

Townhouse

The Townhouse Gallery is a space for independent arts, aimed at promoting contemporary arts within the region and internationally. Since its inception the Townhouse Gallery has established itself as independent space for the arts, providing an extensive programme of visual arts, film, theatre and music. In addition community development initiatives as well as educational programmes figure significantly in our multiple mandates.

ZINC/ECM

ZINC/ECM is based in “la Friche la Belle de Mai” arts center. The goal of ZINC/ECM is to organize a “laboratory of new means and forms of multimedia artistic and cultural expression and authoring” that are gradually invented as experiments progress throughout the years.

santralistanbul

santralistanbul is a project led by İstanbul Bilgi University, involving the conversion of the first power station built in İstanbul during the Ottoman period – Silahtaraga Power Plant – into a Museum of Contemporary Arts, a Museum of Energy and a cultural and educational centre. Silahtaraga Power Plant is situated at the heart of the Golden Horn, one of İstanbul’s oldest industrial quarters, and was established in 1911, functioning until 1983. The power plant is a unique industrial heritage site and one of the best preserved in İstanbul.

NOMAD

NOMAD is an Istanbul-based association that aims to produce and experiment with new patterns in the digital art sphere by using the lenses of various other disciplines. NOMAD's production network aims to build strong connections across territorial borders through digital culture-oriented projects. The core of the formation consists of designers, engineers, architects, curators and writers. The infrastructure is based on technical and theoretical levels to provide collaborations with affiliations of artists. Since 2002, NOMAD has developed numerous local and international projects, including festivals, exhibitions, performances, multimedia events, experimental film screenings, lectures, panels, and publications.

SCCA

SCCA-Ljubljana is a non-governmental and non-profitorganisation based in Ljubljana, Slovenia. SCCA-Ljubljana is a member of: ICAN (International Contemporary Art Network), Amsterdam; EFAH (European Forum for Arts and Heritage), Brussels; IKT (International Association of Curators of Contemporary Art), Luxemburg; Anna Lindh Foundation, Alexandria; Asociacija (Association of Independent Artists and Organisations in the Field of Culture in Slovenia), Ljubljana.

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participants bio

Andreas Broeckmannis one of three artistic directors of TESLA - Laboratory for Arts and Media in Berlin. From 2000 to 2007 he was the Artistic Director of transmediale - festival for art and digital culture Berlin. He also worked s a project manager at V2_Organisation Rotterdam, Institute for the Unstable Media. Apart from curating various exhibitions in Europe, he initiated and guided many projects and meetings on media art and digital culture in the East Europe. He is a member of the advisory board for Visual Arts of the Goethe Institute, and of the Council for the Arts, Berlin. He co-maintains the Spectre mailing list and is a member of the Berlin-based media association Mikro.

Sarkis ZabunyanIs one of the most considerable artists who can open a distinctive dialogue between his works and audience. He produced many works using light, sound and colour as his primary media. While dealing with memory and space, he displays contrasts in order to make an impact on the perception and intuition. Besides his many solo exhibitions and projects he participated in Documenta VI and VII in Kassel in 1997 and 1982, Istanbul Biennial in 1987, 1989 and 1995 and Venice Biennial in 1993. He also had several solo exhibitions at Modern Art Museum of the City of Paris in 1984, the Pompidou Center in 1993, the ENSBA – Lyon and the Lyon Contemporary Art Museum in 2003 and the San Francisco Art Institute in 2006. His latest work “Leidscahtz” is presently exhibited in the Louvre Museum.

Gregor Jansenis an expert in contemporary art, curator of exhibitions about art in the 20th and 21st century in Aachen, Köln, Maastricht and Seoul. He was the curator of BEIJING CASE, a research project on international urban development of megacities. In 2002 he was the curator of the second media art biennale »media_city seoul« in South-Corea. Again in 2002 he was the project coordinator of the exhibition »Iconoclash« at ZKM 2002. In 2006 he was one of the curators of “Light Art From Artificial Light” at ZKM. He published many books, catalogues and articles.

Cevdet Erektrained as an architect and sound designer, Erek started realizing a series of time based installations with the production of Avluda (In the courtyard) in 2002. Using sounds & beats, moving images & objects, constructions and performance, he creates intense experiences by capturing and reformulating spaces and situations. While working as a research assistant and sound engineer at ITU - MIAM, he was shown and performed at Stedelijk Museum CS, Istanbul Biennial, ZKM, Platform Garanti Contempoarary Art Center, V2_Organisation Rotterdam, Martin Gropius Bau, IFA, MOMAS, Art Museum of Estonia, Living art Museum Rejkavik and others. He received the Uriot Prize with ‘Studio’ (2005) during his residency at Rijksakademie – Amsterdam. He also collaborates with architects, directors, chorographers and performs with Istanbul’s Nekropsi.

Marko A. Kovačičis an interdisciplinary and polymedia artist: his field of interest covers different media: performance, sculpture, installation, video, music, film and theater. After his BA of Fine Arts, he also completed postgraduate studies in sculpture (M.A. in Fine Arts, 1988). He is a founding member of Ana Monro Theater (1981–1991), R IRWIN S Group (1983–1985) and Zlati Kastrioti music and multimedia band (from 2000). He is the holder of Golden Bird Prize (1987) and Zupančič Award (1994). His project The Civilization of Plastos was gained the title of the Artwork of the Month by ICAN, International Contemporary Art Network based in Amsterdam (February 2003).

Borut Savskijoined Radio Student Ljubljana in 1984, he started coordinating Ministry of Experiment, an open platform for various media research in 1997. In late 90's he co-organized web and radio based Xtended Live Radio events and performed about a hundred of direct radio broadcasts (as "amplification of underground activities"). Savski took part in web activities at Ars Electronica 1998. In 1999, he started a regular radio broadcast "Huda ura" as a host of algorithmic sound examples. In 1999, he realized a sound installation "Sound Biotope" with John Grzinich (Kapelica Gallery, Ljubljana) and in 2000, a soundtrack for a cartoon (E-Motion Film production). Following projects: Holy Trinity/Round Table, 2001, Sonic Point Of View, 2002, Aesthetic machines, 2003, Bazooka-Electric Jesus, 2004, Eye meets I, 2004, Oracle, 2004, The Dancer, 2005 and Bowlfuls of sound, 2005.

Jan-Peter E.R. Sonntagis an artist and curator who studied music, fine arts, art theory and philosophy. In early 90's he worked as a curator at the Stiftung Weimarer Klassik for experimental arts and music. He develops experimental audio performances and creates locative, interactive installations including light and sounds. He performed in various venues and festivals in Europe including Transmediale. He is founding member of 'unerhört', Bremerhaven, 'oh Ton', Oldenburg and of the Edition HORCH. He co-founded the 'hARTware' project and 'slap - social landart projects' and in 2002 he founded N-solab.

Carlo Crovatocreates kinetic/aural/visual installations, describing his style as “plastic electric”. He has worked with Staalplaat Sound system since 2001 and participated in the Stralsund Sound Festival, transmediale (Berlin 2001). Crovato has exhibited at galleries in Leipzig, Berlin, Krakow, Dresden, Goehlis, and at the Szombathely Museum of Modern Art, Hungary. He participated in “Open Studio” Project in Cairo in 2006.

Ceren Oykutis an artist produces multidisciplinary projects, which blend sound and visual representation modes through drawings on urban cultures Her drawings were presented in various magazines such as L-inc, Kontrol, Roll, and Fuct-D. She also works with a music band called “Baba Zula” and a collective called “Anabala” by creating and rendering projected digital images in real time on the stage. She contributed to many projects in Turkey, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Serbia and Montenegro, and Egypt. Oykut lives and works in Istanbul.

Cynthia Zavenis a pianist, composer and installation artist based in Beirut. Her works include collaborative productions with visual artists and stage directors, ranging from live performances to sound engineering for live acts. Her sound and video installations have been shown in festivals and exhibitions in Europe and Asia. Whether the piano is used as a classical musical instrument for live performances ("Silence bien plus tard" (1996), installation by Catherine Cattaruzza – "Goldberg Aley" (2005), video installation by Fernando Palomar...) or as a mechanical medium for electronically altered free improvisations (the Bienne Klangturm concert in 2002, "The Untuned Piano Concerto with Delhi Traffic Orchestra" in 2006), it remains her mandatory tool, often de-contextualized and used as a sonic interface to communicate within an urban space. Zaven has written soundtracks for documentaries, experimental and feature films that have toured amongst other venues the IDFA, the Tribeca Film Festival, the Kassel Documentary film and Video Festival, Videobrazil, the Bern Kunstmuseum, the Institute of Contemporary Art and the Oxford Museum of Modern Art. She is currently a part-time piano instructor at the Higher National Conservatory of Music in Beirut.

Collective Positions(s)Since, 2006, the collective POSITION has presented an on-line work named SUPERPOSITIONS which is a singular relationship to the city on the basis of clickable audiovisual collages. The navigation can be made according to games of fate or according to narrative continuity. SUPERPOSTIONS is an invitation to a journey specifically created for Web.

-- Remy RIVOIREinvestigates the notions of topography and construction with his plastic work . He was selected for the "Biennale of the young creators of Europe and Mediterranee" in Athens, exhibited in Montpellier at Square St Anne and in Nicosia (Cyprus) for the exhibition "Noisecrossing", and also invited by Noise of Coincidence. In 2004, he took part in "Return of Athenes" in Marseille and in "Buttom Line" in Lubjiana. His first solo exhibition took place in 2005 at the Art Center of Talence (France). He is a resident of the city of Marseille's workshop for the last two years. He creates pictures and animation for the web site "www.superpositions.net".

-- Renaud VERCEYis a multimedia creator for the ECM at "La Friche Belle de Mai" from 1998 to 2001 and created several web sites among which those of Documents of artists and the AMI. He collaborated as videaste in creations M encore ! and Non seulement of Georges Appaix, and took part in the French-Japanese group PACJAP, investigating the interactions between music and new technologies. He creates interactive videos and DVDs. He works on "www.superpositions.net" which investigates the relation of the body with the machine, created for laureat Net Art of Web flash festival in 2006 (Paris). Currently, he works on the project Radiovision, a collective creation music and image on the poetic of the waves.

-- Bruno VOILLOTlives and works in Marseille since 1997 at first near to minors in clandestine situation in the district Belsunce then with psychotic adults in Luberon. He works for 6 years in a center of reception and care for drug addicts in the city center where he animates a workshop dedicated to the radio creation.He works at the theoretical and practical elaboration questions related to creation and schizophrenia. He took place in POSITION(S) in October 2001 to create a sound installation in multi-diffusion. He created the sound for the web site "www.superpositions.net" in 2006.

Aylin Kalemis a writer, lecturer, researcher and curator in the fields of dance, performance, the body and digital culture. She studied English Language and Literature (BA, Bogazici Univ.), History (MA, Bogazici Univ.) and Dance and New Technologies (DEA, Univ. Paris 8). She is instructor at the Management of Performing Arts Department of Bilgi University and at the Modern Dance Department of Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University with courses on Performance Studies, Theories of the Body and Digital Performance. She has been giving lectures on New Technologies in Contemporary Performance, exhibiting interactive installations, leading workshops and writing critical articles on dance, performance and digital technologies. She is the curator of the international programme and organizer of TECHNE 06 International Istanbul Digital Performance Platform held in April 2006. Aylin Kalem is the co-founder of a multidisciplinary arts initiative “boDig” that focuses on the issues of the body in contemporary arts, performing arts and digital culture.

Erhan Muratogluis an interactive designer and digital artist. He has a Bachelor of Industrial Design Degree and MFA in Graphic Design. He has worked and exhibited in Turkey, Europe, the UK and the US with his computer generated projects, and has received awards in many festivals for his experimental videos. He works as a lecturer in the Dept. of Communication Design of Kadir Has University, Istanbul and is a member of NOMAD. He is also organizing ctrl_alt_del sound-art project.

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Barbara Borčićis an art critic and curator, B.A. in art history from the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana. Since 2000 Director of SCCA-Ljubljana, Center for Contemporary Arts. From 1980 worked in Škuc Gallery Ljubljana (1982-1986: artistic director). 1982-1992: involved in video practice in frame of ‘Ljubljana alternative scene’ and co-author of video projects. 1991-1992: editor of the fine arts magazine Likovne besede (Art Words). Active in the field of contemporary arts as a free-lance curator, publicist and editor. Amongs other, Borčić conceived and edited the documentation, archival and research project on video art in Slovenia (Videodokument. Video Art in Slovenia 1969-1998). She has been curating web project Internet Portfolio and video programs under the title Videospotting and writing about performance and video. In frame of SCCA-Ljubljana she is also the leader of research projects (What Is to Be Done with the Balkan Art; What Is to Be Done with the Audiovisual Archives) and co-editor of publications (Anthology of the World of Art, PlatformaSCCA, Žepna Pocket Edition).

Claudine Dussollieris a trained geographer, she has fulfilled many responsibilities and tasks in the fields related to the immigrants’ integration, and the urban, social and cultural development. In 1993, she joined the public establishment/institution of the “Parc et Grande Halle de la Villette» in Paris as a program director associating the artistic projects to the social and urban context. Since 1998, she directs or coordinates training project regarding publishing and the cultural development in France and in the Mediterranean area. The artistic interventions in public areas, the clown arts and the recent use of digital tools and multimedia cultural field represent her land’s choices. Since 2002, she has been in charge of the cooperation programs development in the Mediterranean region of ZINC/ECM (la Friche la Belle de Mai) and she runs la collection Carnets de rue/écritures artistiques, espaces, publics in l’Entretemps publisher, since its foundation in 2005. Claudine Dussollier is coordinating with Abdo Nawar the platform RAMI- The international encounters on arts and multimedia. Since 2001, she is animating the cultural exchange programs in the Mediterranean region of ZINC/ECM (Friche la Belle de Mai de Marseilles-France). From long time ago, she considers personally, the photography, writing and the multimedia as her career path. The poetic project of Voyageur- Alexandrie-Marseille conducted in 2001-02 with Nabil Boutros, Jean-François Rivière, Alaa Khaled and Salwa Rashad is one of these examples.

Basak Senova(Assist. Prof. Dr.) is a curator, writer and designer based in Istanbul. She studied Literature and Graphic Design (MFA in Graphic Design and Ph.D. in Art, Design and Architecture at Bilkent University) and attended the 7th Curatorial Training Programme of Stichting De Appel, Amsterdam. She has been publishing papers on art, technology and mass media since 1995, and frequently gives lectures. Senova initiated projects and curated exhibitions in Turkey and Europe since 1996. She is the editor of art-ist 6, Kontrol Online Magazine and one of the founding members of NOMAD as well as the organizer of ctrl_alt_del and Upgrade!Istanbul. Currently, she works as a lecturer at the Faculty of Communication, Kadir Has University.

Mohammed Yousriis a freelance culture management consultant residing in Cairo. Yousri holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Comparative literature from the American University in Cairo. He has worked in a variety of roles in both public and private sector but has since involved himself in non-profit initiatives traversing such fields as arts, media and human rights. His previous posts include Program Associate for Media, Arts and Culture in the Ford Foundation's Middle East and North Africa Office, and General Director of Cairo's first independent photography and video art center, the Contemporary Image Collective. He is currently Program Consultant to the Townhouse Gallery as well as Coordinator of Tadamon, the Egyptian-refugee multicultural council. Yousri also sits on the board of Art Moves Africa, the mobility fund for artists and cultural operators in the African continent

abstracts of the talks

The emission and the projection of light have played a significant role in the visual and performing arts for a long time. In his talk, Andreas Broeckmann highlights a number of recent artworks which deal with projected light as a medium.Broeckmann frames the analysis of these works by a presentation of the Berlin-based laboratory for art and media, TESLA, which he runs together with two colleagues. TESLA is an art centre that supports the production and presentation of contemporary, media-based art practices, and that fosters a critical discourse about contemporary art through regular public salons and debates.

Discussing the importance of knowledge in the present world, such as the knowledge of "light" adjustment in the new media art ‘Light art from artificial light exhibition’ in ZKM, combining the usage of electricity/physics/chemistry/mechanics/computers in a multi-facet representation. How can we balance the cultural function of such knowledge in the involved multiple knowledge structures, taking into account the similarities and differences of knowledge and art?

Diverse though the lines may be that led in the twentieth century to the use of artificial light as the medium of art and then to the development of Light Art as an independent genre, they are coherent. While until the end of the nineteenth century, painting merely depicted light, indeed primarily sidereal light (the sun and the stars), as of 1900 a paradigm shift took place away from the representation (of light) to the reality (of light): Art started working with real light. It was not natural light that was depicted illusionistically, but artificial light that was really used. Just as the clock had introduced a shift from sidereal time (derived from the stars) to artificial chronometry, so electricity initiated a switch from the natural light of the sun to the artificial light of the lamp. In the age of the industrial revolution, the picture became a screen. A picture represents light, a screen receives light and radiates it. Light was no longer captured but exuded. The artwork became the generator or emitter of real light.

Light and narration in sensible environments,by Paolo Rosa

The talk is about Studio Azzurro’s experience in projecting “sensible environments”, works in witch light reacts when touched, where images live in relationship with spectator, interacting with his curiosity. It’s a light that become kinetic painting that paint in fresco the space as a sixteenth century cathedral, telling today’s stories. This light gives form to an interlacing of real and virtual that now makes part of our everyday life landscapes, this light gives matter to presences e things. At the end light can disappear, extinguished herself.

sonArc::project, which was at the Württembergischen Kunstverein in Stuttgart from the 24. February to the 29. April, 2007, moves between the fields of electricity research, video, spatial installation and performance. sonArc::project is a project cycle in alternating aesthetic formats. The project aims at searching the essence of electricity as well as the possibility of domesticating lightening since 2003: that is, in search of the electric/electronic sources and, at the same time, visions of our media age.